This story was written by Rafat Ali. So it has finally happened: Gracenote, the media metadata and tech firm which has been around since 1998, has been bought by Sony (NYSE: SNE) Corp of America, for about $260 million and more depending on earnout. The deal is expected to close in May.

Gracenote's existing business will continue to operate separately, and will continue to develop new technologies in existing as well as new areas of operation, the companies said. The senior management team will remain with the company. The company's tech and services are used in Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes, Winamp, Panasonic, Philips and Sony, and on the mobile music side by players such as from Samsung, Sony Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), and others.

Thus ends the ear of any independents in the traditional music metadata space. AMG was bought by Macrovision (NSDQ: MVSN) late last year; Muze is owned by VC/PE firm Enterprise Partners Venture Capital.